Having their family home transformed on House Rules means the world to Graeme and his wife Mary.
As the House Rules teams have learned, the couple’s Western Sydney home was destroyed by a fire last November.
Their family was displaced as a result, with Graeme’s two eldest daughters having no option but to live with their mum throughout the week, while Mary, Graeme and their two youngest children stayed together in one room at Mary’s parents’ house.
“It was tough,” Graeme tells TV WEEK, adding that he spent most of his time in the aftermath trying to fix their home.
“During that period, I was trying to do everything I could. I’d be there [at the house] sweeping the floors. I didn’t see much of Mary and it put a strain on us. I felt like a stranger in my own family because I was never there.”
The blaze changed the lives of Graeme and his family.
While nobody was to blame for the fire, Graeme couldn’t help but feel responsible.
“Even though it’s out of your control, I felt responsible because we didn’t have insurance,” he explains.
Graeme says that having the opportunity to live in their home again will bring them back together as a family.
“We’ve lived through something together as a family,” he says. “It was such a tragic story, but it’s brought us closer together.”
Mary surveys the damage on their home.
HOUSE RULES airs Monday, 7.30pm, and Sunday, 7pm, on Channel Seven.
